Aeroplane.



H. E. GOLDBERG.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION man APR. 15, 1916.

1 09,426. Patented Dec. 19, 1 916.

.Zkr/e M 5% 19 HYMAN' ELI GOLDBERG, OF' CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AEROPLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented-Dec. 19,1916.

Continuation ofapplication Serial No. 692,269, filed April 22,1912. This application filed April 15,1916.

7 Seria1No.91,289.

To all whom it may concern Be itknown that I, IIYMAN.ELI GOLDBERG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aeroplanes, of \uhichthe following .is a-specification.

.Oneof the leading objects andsalient features of the present invention is the proi wduction of a flyingimachine or aeroplane .Whereintliedistribution of the masses is .such as. to effectually, materially, and automatically increase the stability of the appliance WithOHt. employing equalizers, stabilizers, gyroscopes, rudders, or similar means. -.Ord-inarily little troubleis encountered by any, displacement of a machine ofv this character so long asit does not cause any twisting orturning. It is of littleconsequence if a :gust ofavind blows an appliance of this kind some distance out of itstrue place or courseiso long as it does not effect any tipping orrtilting of the device-because the aaviator can! bring it backrrea'dily into posi- -,251tion. ltiis much more serious, however, if the displacement be za-ngular instead of rectilinear, for -under these circumstances, the iflying machine may be very readily causedto point down-Ward or upward. As- ;301su-ming, therefore, that asa general rule "right line movements are not dangerous, but that angular displacements are 1 to be avoided, my invention iS=iI1t011Cl6Td1tO matei rially 1 increasethe resistance of the appli 35. anoeto any such sudden turning or 1 twistingmovements.

It has been the: custom aheretofore to a large extent, among constructors of aero- 3 planes, to concentrate the mass of the 1 ma- -40 chine, that is; to say, the heavy parts thereof, such :as a the ;-motor, it the "aviator, the tank, -andthe fuel contained'therein, (the planes :themselves being comparatively light), in one small comparatively compact vplace. A5 vThis is ia-serious structural error and my 1 invention a in some :of its i embodiments consists in dividing and distribntingthe Whole mass into a number of distinct portions or parts ,ifairly Widely distributed so that at these. points: therewill be located consideriableamasses and; at every other point in the appliance theimassuwill =loeaas small. as consistent *With :the xrequired strength of i the structure.

Generally speaking, oneofthe most conrenient and desirable methods of distribut ing the mass of the appliance would be to place as nearly one-third as possibleat each point or, angle of a triangle, preferably, an

equilateral triangle, although this is not vi- 1 tally essential, since the triangle could con veniently be isosceles. Moreover, it is not al solutely essential that the mass at each vertex of the triangle be one-third of the total mass, the essence of the invention in its prefer-red embodiment residingin the distribution of the mass as a Whole into a number of subsidiary masses as far from each other aspracticable with comparatively lit tle mass between them;

It isWell-understood that the resistance .towangular displacement is proportional to the moment of inertia and that the latter is :much ilarger for a distribution of masses 'suchas has been described than for the same masses concentratedeat one point. To illus- 'trate bya concrete example, let-11s assume thateeach mass :is a sphere ofiron one ton in Weight :a-ndthatthe three spheres are located at thevertices of an equilateral triangleten'feet on aside. "Assuming also for simplicity that iron Weighs five hundred pounds per cubic foot, it will be found that the moments of'inertia of the three masses in ;the triangular arrangement'are many' times iasxgreat as themoments of inertia of the one concentrated mass. 'For instance, the'moment of inertia. of the three one-ton inasses about an axis through the center of the triangle and perpendicular to the plane of' the triangleis over forty times as great asthe moment of inertia of the one threeton mass about thesame axis. The moment of inertia of the three one+ton masses about an axis in; the plane :ofthe triangle passing through their center of gravity and parallel ttosone of the sides of thetriangle is over twenty times asegreat as the corresponding moment of inertia of: the one three-ton mass. Again, the moment of inertia of the three oneeton:inassesvabout an axis in-the plane of the trianglewand perpendicular to one of thesides thereof and passing through their renter ofl gravity .is over twenty times as great :as that of the one three-ton mass.

"It being well known in mechanics that the moment of inertia about 7 any axis is it easilyderivable from the moments of inertia about -the three main axes of inertia and these having been givenabove, it iwillpbe apparent that, under no circumstances will the moment of inertia of the three widelyseparated one-ton masses be less than twenty times as great as the moment of inertia of the one centralized three-ton mass. Obviously, the resistance to angular displacement will, under no circumstances, be less than twenty times as great, and possibly more. In the example noted, it has been assumed that the three masses were located ten feet apart. This would constitute but a moderate sized aeroplane and a great many appliances of this character have been built much larger than that. It would not be beyond the bounds of ordinary construction to locate the masses twenty feet apart, and in that case the moments of inertia of the three one-ton masses would be practically quadrupled. The resistance to angular displacement in the larger triangular arrangement would, therefore, be not less than eighty times that of the one three-ton mass in any direction and many times more than that in other directions. In actual practice one mass might be the motor, a second mass the aviator, and the third mass the tank and the fuel. The future development of aviation tending toward the use of two or more independent motors, so that an accident to one will not completely out off the power of the machine, in such cases, it might be more convenient to make two of the masses the two motors and the one or more aviators and the fuel the third mass. In an aeroplane of this character it would be feasible and preferable to provide it with three distinct supporting planes, one for each of the masses, and quite close thereto, the whole structure being suitably braced together, as will be readily understood. It is not necessary that each plane of the machine should be rigidly attached to the framing, but in some instances it would be desirable that it should be capable of being either warped or tipped about an axis in order to apply the force for change of direction in a somewhat similar manner to each one of the masses.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing of which the figure presents a diagrammatic plan view of the flying machine or rather of the distribution of masses therein, and the location of the planes with respect to the masses.

In view of the preceding description the drawing becomes practically self-explanatory, but it may be noted that in the appliance of the drawing each of the masses is provided with the reference character 1 and each of the supporting planes associated therewith with the reference character 2, the bracing of the device being characterized 3. It will be seen that the planes 2 are immediately adjacent to the masses 1 and that the center of pressure of each supporting plane is very near the center of gravity of its corresponding 'mass. The distribution of the total mass into subsidiary masses located far apart as explained above, increases the moment of inertia, thus securing ample angular stability. The location of the centers of pressure of the planes in proximity to the centers of gravity of the masses permits the bracing members to be short. This in turn produces a strong but light construction of the whole machine.

In this preferred embodiment of the invention, I have illustrated and described three subsidiary masses located at the vertices of an equilateral triangle, but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to such a specific number of masses nor to that particular arrangement, the importaut point being to locate the whole mass as far as is practicable from the total mass center regardless of the particular relative arrangement of the various portions of the total mass to obtain the desired large moment of inertia.

It may be observed that inasmuch as this appliance does not depend for its angular stability upon the aeroplane members, but is conditioned upon the relation of the distributed load or mass to the total mass center, the resistance to angular displacement of the structure is present just as much when the engine is not running as when it is operating. Furthermore, because this appliance depends upon the distribution of the load into locally-concentrated masses spread around the total mass center at a substantial distance therefrom, the stability is not dependent upon the aeroplane members themselves, and so far as this invention is concerned, it has just as much stability whether the planes are operative or so damaged as to become substantially valueless. A device incorporating this invention would be just as effective against angular displace ment in a vacuum as it is in the air and it consequently protects the aviator against the dangers of so-called air pockets.

Many minor mechanical changes may be made in the appliance set forth herein without departure from the essential features of the invention as defined in the appended claims and without loss or sacrifice of its substantial benefits and advantages.

This application is a continuation of my earlier application, Serial No. 692,269, filed April 22, 1912.

I claim:

1. An aeroplane wherein approximately the total mass thereof including the load is distributed to surround the total mass center at a distance therefrom to thereby secure a large moment of inertia to resist angular displacement of the structure, substan- -tially as described.

2. An aeroplane wherein approximately the total mass thereof including the load is divided into subsidiary locally-concentrated masses distributed around the total mass center at a distance therefrom to thereby secure a large moment of inertia to resist angular displacement of the structure, sub

stantially as described.

3. An aeroplane wherein substantially the total load is divided into substantially equal subsidiary masses distributed to surround the total mass center at a distance therefrom to thereby secure a large moment of inertia to resist angular displacement of the structure, substantially as described.

4. An aeroplane constructed to resist angular displacement thereof wherein substantially the total load mass of the aeroplane is divided into three separate concen trated subsidiary masses located in triangular arrangement whereby to secure a relatively large moment of inertia, substantially as described.

5. An aeroplane constructed to resist angular displacement thereof, wherein substantially the total load mass of the aeroplane is divided into widely-separated, locally-concentrated, relatively-large subsidiary masses whereby to secure a large moment of inertia to resist angular displacement of the device, the lines joining the centers of such masses forming a convex polygon, substantially as described.

6. An aeroplane having aplurality of supporting-planes and having approximately its total load mass divided into the same number of parts as there are planes and distributed to surround the total mass center at a distance therefrom to secure a large moment of inertia to resist angular displacement of the structure, the center of pressure of' each supporting plane being substantially vertically above the center of gravity of its corresponding mass substantially as described.

7. An aeroplane having a plurality of supporting-planes and having substantially its total load divided into parts the number of which correspond to the number of the supporting-planes, said subsidiary masses being distributed around the total mass center at a distance therefrom to secure a large moment of inertia to resist angular displacement of the structure, the center of pressure of each supporting plane being near the center of gravity of its corresponding mass, substantially as described.

8. An aeroplane having three supportingplanes and having substantially the total load mass divided into three separate concentrated subsidiary masses located in triangular arrangement, whereby to secure a relatively large moment of inertia to resist angular displacement of the structure, the center of pressure of each plane and the center of gravity of its associate mass being approximately vertically one above the other, substantially as described.

HYMAN ELI GOLDBERG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

